The production of organic white light emitting devices is one of the main technological and scientific challenges. This is due to the fact that the creation of white light from a single component is considered an extremely difficult mission. Regularly, white light emission is achieved by employing a mix of the three primary dyes which emit in red, green, and blue. However, proximate color elements may undergo electronic interaction leading to a change in the optical profile e.g., nonradiative emission/decay. As previously was shown [1] electron transfer between dye molecules is ultra sensitive to the distance between them. At a short distance, formation of the Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) process may take place, which eliminates the emission of one of the components in a mixed system.
There are several approaches to reduce electronic interaction between molecules, e.g., creation of multilayers of dyes in which each layer is comprised of single type of dye, or by the synthesis of an inorganic separating matrix material in which the different emitting compounds can be mixed without interaction (matrix-filler materials). While these inorganic matrix systems are the leading candidates to prepare flexible, processable and low-cost devices, the fabrication process of such systems is highly affected by many factors such as humidity, temperature and concentration.
Hydrophobic materials, such as fullerenes, experience rejection in hydrophilic environment; however, this can be overcome by chemically modifying their surfaces [2]. Although, Fullerenes are practically insoluble in water, dissolution can be achieved using certain methods, e.g. by using surfactants that are water soluble, like the fullerene encapsulation into water-soluble complexes, such as cyclodextrine [3], or by performing chemical functionalization when appropriate hydrophilic groups are covalently attached to them.
A number of fullerene derivatives were reported to interact with proteins; however, a stable and well-defined protein-fullerene complex with a native protein has never been observed. Belgorodsky et al [4] reported the preparation and structural and functional characterization of a complex formed between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fullerene.
Chen et al. [5] describe assembling glycosylated polymers designed to mimic natural mucins on carbon nanotubes (see FIG. 1). The glycosylated polymer included an aliphatic portion designed to contact to the nanotube and a glycosylated portion, designed to interact with mucin. Carbon nanotubes coated with such “mucin mimics” are described by Chen et al to be soluble in water.